BackToLearn.com - Helping adults find the best college

February 1, 2010 at 8:54 am — by Laura | No Comments
Category: Blog, Choosing a College

I tested out of college math and had enough credit from high school to skip having to take French.

But after reading through WhatWillTheyLearn.com—A guide to what college rankings don’t tell you, I’m wondering if I did myself a disservice… (Although, on the math front, I’m thinking no.)

The folks at WhatWillTheyLearn.com graded colleges based on, among other things, the classes they require for students to earn a degree. They frown upon colleges letting students, for example, fulfill a math requirement with a music class.

They do have a point.

I really wish I’d taken a class to learn more about the Constitution and how government works instead of fulfilling a college history requirement with “The history of science.” Not that there’s not a place for the history of science—just that the other kind of knowledge might have served me better in my everyday life.

Sure, much of a student’s course selection is up to the student. But maybe this report teaches us to embrace the opportunities for classic education. And to change your attitude when you have to pass, say, a seemingly random history class on your way to a degree.

Check out this excerpt from WhatWillTheyLearn.com:
“…We evaluate whether major colleges and universities require seven key subjects: English composition, literature, foreign language, U.S. government or history, economics, mathematics, and science.

What we found is alarming. …Topics like U.S. government or history, literature, mathematics, and economics have become mere options on far too many campuses. Not surprisingly, students are graduating with great gaps in their knowledge—and employers are noticing. If not remedied, this will have significant consequences for U.S. competiveness and innovation.”

(Tragic: They misspelled “competitiveness”. Oh, the irony.)